Problem: Emily earns a base salary of $400.00 every week with an additional 14% commission on everything she sells. If Emily sold $5500.00 worth of items last week, what was her total salary?
Solution: First, find the amount of commission made by using the following formula: commission rate $\times$ total sales $=$ amount of commission made Since the commission rate is a percentage, we have to convert it into a decimal first. Percent means "out of one hundred," so $14\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{14}{100}$ which is also equal to $14 \div 100$ $14 \div 100 = 0.14$ Now you have all the information you need to find the amount of commission made: $0.14$ $\times$ $$5500.00$ $=$ $$770.00$ We can find the total salary for Emily by adding the amount of commission made to her base salary. amount of commission made $+$ base salary $=$ total salary $$770.00$ $+$ $$400.00$ $=$ $$1170.00$ The total salary Emily made last week was $$1170.00$.